Competition Authority Opens Evidence Phase in Food Price Coordination Trial

Israel’s Competition Authority opened the evidentiary stage on Wednesday in the trial of senior food retail executives accused of coordinating conduct that would lead to higher prices. The hearing comes a year and a half after the indictment was filed in the food sector case. Among the defendants are Victori owner and CEO Eyal Raviv, and Yochananof owner and CEO Eitan Yochananof.

The day focused on one of three cases in the indictment, an alleged effort by Raviv to influence suppliers to raise prices for products sold by his competitors, including Rami Levy and Yochananof, before increasing prices himself. Witnesses expected to testify about the alleged coordination include Ali Shani, vice president of trade and sales at Dr. Fischer, and Uri Levi, CEO of the canned-food company Beit Hashita.

At the opening of the hearing, Ofer Maoz, head of the Criminal Department at the Competition Authority, said the retail and consumer-goods sector draws major public attention because food prices affect everyone and the cost of living. He called the alleged conduct severe, saying the law forbids coordinating or trying to coordinate price hikes, restraining promotions, or coordinating with a rival chain.

Maoz added that the evidence offers a look behind the scenes at how the market works and said it appears that for years it was difficult to raise prices because of the cottage cheese protest, since everyone feared being the first to move. He said this is the core of the indictment and described Raviv’s approach as unusually bold, quoting the allegation that Raviv wanted to pull out the “finger from the dam” to create a “tsunami of price increases.” According to the report, messages and recorded calls found on Raviv’s phone, seized by the Competition Authority, included pressure on suppliers such as Levi and Shani to raise prices.